Fate: Extra Code
by DarkLord98
Summary: While I could make an attempt at some...embellishment, I'm not going to waste your time with that. This will be a story about a partial SI, which might be easier to understand, being a participant in the Moon Cell Holy Grail War, his story running parallel with those of the Kishinami twins, and one thing thing ties them all together; "They were born in defiance of fate..."
1. Chapter 1: Awakening

**Alright, so I have started a Fate/Extra Quest on Sufficient Velocity, and since I asked a lot of my readers to submit Servants, I have decided to start posting chapters of it onto here, and depending on whether or not I have gotten the right amount of votes for most of my choices, which is somewhere in the ballpark of 7, I'll either post "completed" chapters like this onto this site, or the same ones that I post onto SV.**

 **Also, since SV has invisible text, and doesn't, just assume that** **_[this]_** , / _this_ \ **or** _this_ **kind of text are supposed to be invisible text.**

* * *

"Oi, Alby, pay attention!" Our teacher, Miss Fujimura, or as she hated to be called, "Tiger" shouted, snapping me out of my daydreaming.

 **[X] Alby**

"Hai, Hai, Tiger-Sensei" I answered her in a bored fashion, grinning as I saw her red face.

"Alby, you meanie! How could you wound a young maiden's heart like that?"

 **[X] "I'm pretty sure I didn't say anything to my classmates."**

Comical tears start flowing from Taiga's eyes as she clutches her chest as if wounded. "Rest of the class is free study, I need to go cry my heart out!" with that, Taiga storms off.

/ _How exactly did she get appointed as a teacher? Oh right, Yakuza family connections._ \

"Heh, I suppose you're good for something, Ocathin. Thanks to you, we got rest of the day off. Shinji cockily stated.

"It's Ó Catháin, ya pompous dick." I retorted, more than annoyed with Shinji, not that it wasn't common. Something about the guy just rubbed me the wrong way, even before the bastard opened his mouth on the first day of school.

/ _It doesn't matter whether he is a child, or a teenager, Shinji Matou will always be a reprehensible being_ \

"Yeah, whatever. Trash like you should be glad that someone talented like me even speaks to you."

 **[X] "Talented in two-timing and wanking perhaps, but at least I don't shirk from my duties."**

"S-Shut up!" Shinji blusters, packing up his supplies before exiting the classroom.

/ _'How dare this NPC insult me! I'll delete him once these preliminaries end!' Shinji thought as he stomped away_ \

"Why do you antagonize him like that? You know his family's got a high position in the city." Hakunon asks, her brother going after Shinji to try and help soothe him down.

 **[X] "At this point, it's a game. If he gives in, I win, and he knows that." I answer with a grin.**

"You're playing with fire, y'know." Hakunon sighs before picking up her supplies. **  
**

"But that's what makes it fun. It's no fun messing with normal people." I respond, slinging my case behind my back.

Hakunon sighs in resignation, knowing that I wasn't going to stop antagonizing Shinji.

/ _'Honestly, what am I going to do with you, Alby-san?' Hakunon thought as she followed her friend._ \

As Hakunon and I leave the the second floor, I notice a man with a high-collared black coat exiting the room next to the shoe lockers. Eventually, I remember his name; Mr. Kuzuki, our math teacher.

/ _Julius Harwey, Assassin's master, fitting for the Harwey family's personal attack dog. Highly dangerous._ \

For some reason, as I look at this guy, I get a chill going down my back. Not to mention that the guy reminded me of that blonde douche Leo.

"So then, you've sent Fujimura into a crying fit again." Kuzuki addressed me, his ever-present glum look deepening.

 **[X] I grin at him "So what? We both know that she'll just jump back up."**

Mr. Kuzuki scoffs, walking off, but not before bumping into my shoulder. "Uppity Moon Cell AI." I heard him mutter. **  
**

…  
Wait, Moon Cell? What's th-

 _ **[ERROR. Data Entry: OWS_Ó_Catháin has overwritten NPC_File:S2seat12.]**_

The world around me froze as the word Moon Cell echoes in my mind, and as it does so, other foreign information pops into my mind.

* * *

 _ **[Potential Master: Alby Ó Catháin has been registered. Relinquishing command from SE .RA .PH to Potential Master.]**_

* * *

The world, no, the simulation of the world resumed, and my eyes hardened as I took control of my body. It was like slipping on your favorite suit that you hadn't worn in ages.

"Is something wrong Alby-san?" Hakunon asked, seemingly worried.

It seemed like neither her or Hakuno had awakened as Masters quite yet, if they even would do so in this iteration of the War.

I shook my head. "It's nothing. Excuse me, but I remembered that I needed to do something." With those words, I walked away from [_], heading towards the spot I needed to be at. [_Part 2]

 **[X] Hakunon. 2: Passing through the preliminaries came first. I couldn't let myself simply fade away, not without a fight.**

"Here it is then, the door to the Moon Cell Grail War." I thought as I stood in front of the dead-end I knew to be the door that would lead to the test where each participant of the War would have to prove that they were worthy of being a Master. Those who did got to move onto the true tournament, while the rest died, either against the effigy set up as tester, or still stuck in their NPC-mode, unaware of their imminent demise. **  
**

 **[X] Too bad I wasn't about to be a sheep for the slaughter.**

With those thoughts in mind, I walked towards the wall, and as my foot sank into the fake wall, I knew that there was really no turning back.  
And within the blue room, my surrogate Servant awaited, the lifeless doll standing there at attention.

 **#Welcome, Potential Master#**

The effigy slumped, like a puppet that lost its strings, only to stand up soon after, but it was now a lot more animated, arms lazily hanging.

 **#That Effigy with you is your sword and your shield for what lies ahead. It will move in response to your commands.#  
**  
I test this by commanding the effigy to attack the bookshelf next to it, and it does so, breaking the glass with a quick jab. I happily note that it didn't require a vocal command, which honestly made sense, considering the context of the game. It'd be pretty easy to predict attack algorithms if your opponent shouted them aloud.

 **#Now then, please proceed. The path to your survival lies ahead.#**

However before I walked into the shadowy door, I looked around the room for a weapon to defend myself with.

 **[X] I remembered what happened to the Prologue-character and the player characters in the original game, and I wasn't going to bet my life on a Heroic Spirit appearing in the nick of time of save me.**

The only "weapon" I found was a meter-and-a-half long rebar, but it was better than nothing. With my prior command showing how quickly these effigies attacked, I felt somewhat confident in managing to hold my own, at least until my real Servant appeared.

With my weapon in hand and surrogate Servant behind me, I entered the shadowy door.

As my effigy and I walked through the prologue-dungeon, I couldn't help but get nervous, not only because of the upcoming fight, but also because I didn't know for certain what Servant I'd get.

Now, I was certain that I wouldn't be getting Gilgamesh, as I wasn't arrogant enough to think that I could control him.

But, more importantly, I was nervous of which Class my Servant would be, as unlike in a proper Grail War, in this tournament, the only official matches were held at the end of each week, and any fights would be cut off short after a few rounds, or as it would probably be the case here, a while, with the attacking party getting punished for it, by the Servant getting a debuff to their Stats.

So to put it bluntly, Assassins were next to useless in this war, with Casters not far behind, as they were the two classes that didn't excel at one-on-one combat, Assassins being, well, _assassins_ , and Casters being a more defensive Class, setting up a lair chock-full of traps for the enemy Servants and masters to come to them, when the fights in this Holy Grail tournament happened in a duel format, in an arena.

Granted, they weren't completely useless, as Assassins probably don't get a punishment if they can kill their target before .PH notices them, and Casters can still try and outmaneuver or overpower other Servants with their Magecraft.

Berserkers were just a beast to be unleashed onto enemies, and with the way the matches were set up, the enemy Servants and Masters had nowhere to run, and there wasn't the possibility of another Servant-Master pair pitching in to take down a Berserker. However, depending on the Berserker he got, such a simple strategy wouldn't be enough, not that it would be effective in the long run, as eventually, a servant strong enough to either outlast or overpower Berserker would appear.

And Riders weren't all that better, since they were a Class that relied on mobility for most of their victory, so in an enclosed space, like an arena, their combat efficiency would be limited.

Granted, that didn't mean that a Rider would be useless without their mount, if they had other notable skills or Noble Phantasms to utilize.

But regardless, the three Knight Classes, Lancer, Archer and Saber still stood atop the proverbial pecking order, just like in a real Grail War.

Lancers were a relative wild card, as there were many ways their Noble Phantasms could work, like how Cú Chulainn's Gae Bolg would hit a target's heart, if no protective skill was deployed, or how Diarmuid Ua Duibhne's Gáe Dearg could cut through Magic, and wounds inflicted by his Gáe Buidhe being unhealable, as long as the spear remained intact. However, all those varying, and potentially useful features were offset by the generally low Luck Stat that was shared amongst all Lancers he knew off.

 **[X] I'm not about to bet my life on a Class known for always dying at the worst possible time, the worst for their masters that is, but great for the other Masters.**

Archers were honestly the best of the Knight Classes for me…except for their Independent Action skill. Archers had great reach, and usually, they also had okay melee capabilities, but they were also different from other Classes in that they could go completely against non-Command Seal orders, and even then, that seemed to leave some leeway for the Servants. Not to mention that Archers in most case were Servants with personalities that you absolutely couldn't trust to carry out your orders, or to have your best intentions in mind.

And so, Sabers once more were the best choice for Servants. Usually high Magic Resistance, so Casters were practically a non-issue. And most of them had some of the strongest Noble Phantasms. However, since swords were one of the most common weapons in Hero myths, their weapons were practically a calling card that announced their name, strengths and weakness'.

Granted, most Servants were more than strong enough to finish a fight before most opponents could properly use that knowledge.

 **[X] All I could hope that I got a Servant who wouldn't stab me in the back.**

I took in a deep breath as I approached the stained glass arena, which honestly reminded of the Kingdom Heart series' Dive to the heart. But what awaited me there wasn't three pedestals with different weapons on them, no, what awaited me were corpses littering the area, with a lone effigy standing there, identical to the one I have.

As soon as I stepped onto the stained glass floor, the effigy, which I'll classify as Foe sprung to life.

As the Foe leas at me, my effigy steps in the way, blocking Foe's kick, retaliating with a swing, which connects with the Foe's head, but it doesn't do much except daze it.

 **[X] Effigy, go for a punch, then follow up with a left kick, followed up by a punch.  
**

Long story short, my effigy is losing, not badly, but its right arm has fractures all over it, while the Foe has small fractures all over its body, but nothing that would make it fall apart easily.

I issue new commands to my effigy;

 **[X] Go for the legs, and whatever you do, don't stop until they're destroyed. I issue these commands knowing that I'll have to fight once my effigy crumbles.**

It attempts to follow the orders, but the Foe jabs its arm right into its torso. As it recoiled from the impact, my Effigy managed to destroy the offending arm, sacrificing its damaged right arm to do so, and following up by piercing the Foe's torso with its left.

My effigy crumbles away, but the Foe doesn't crumble away, save for its right arm, and part of its torso armor, revealing a pulsing core that sparked occasionally.

 **[X] I grasp my impromptu weapon, ready for the Foe to come at me. "I'm not going to die without a fight."**

The Foe lunges at me, the same way that it did against my effigy. I jab my rebar towards its chest, aiming for the core. But I only manage to get like 5 centimeters into the damn thing before the Foe swatted at my weapon, bending it as the rebar flew from my grasps, clattering against the stained glass.

The Foe sends me flying with a kic-PAIN, Oh god, so much pain! I close my eyes, both from pain and fear, the sound of the Foe's needle-like feet clicking against the stained glass, more like a countdown to my doom.

 **[X] Dammit all to hell! I'M NOT GOING TO LET IT END HERE!**

* * *

 _ **[Effigy defeated. .PH Recognizes Alby Ó Catháin as a Master and Participant of the Holy Grail War.]**_

* * *

However, the clicking stops, and unlike what I expected, no attack came. After a while I opened my eyes, and what I saw was…

 **[X]"I ask you, are you my Master?"** Asked my Servant, their body language telling of their confidence, yet sheer rage and indignation radiated from the armored Servant.


	2. Chapter 2: Damn you Kirei!

**Alright, so here's a new chapter, but please don't expect this kind of update speed from me, ever. The only reason I managed this kind of speed was because this story has already been updated to Sufficient Velocity.**

 **Also, F.Y.I, if you want a profile on Alby, the MC, please go to Sufficient Velocity version of this story to get a look at him, and a better look at the profile pic, his Command Seals.**

* * *

As I looked upon my Servant, and analyzed her armor, her weapon and despite the power of her helmet, recognizing her was all too easy. She was…

 **[] The Knight of Treachery, Morded, the Knight who managed to deliver a fatal wound to her father, Arturia Pendragon, a feat I hadn't seen be replicated by any Servant within the Throne of Heroes. A Servant who did everything in her power to win, abandoning the core of a knight, willing to throw even her own sword away if it meant defeating her opponent. Someone who wouldn't accept defeat, and would rise time and time again until she grasped her goal.**

 **[] Mordred, Knight of Londinium. The illegitimate child of King Arthur, or rather Arturia Pendragon, and Morgan le Fay, whom despite all her skill in battle wasn't acknowledged as someone fit for kingship by her own father. And so, in anger, she attempted a coup when her father was away, but in the same move she showed that she could take advantage of an opportune moment, beginning her rebellion when the country itself was discontent with Arthuria.**

Honestly, the Moon Cell chose quite a fitting Servant for me. Although nowhere near perfect, she was still a serviceable Servant, considering the possible alternatives.

"I ask you, are you my Master?" Mordred asks once more, her sword striking the ground as she lays both of her hands on top of the Clarent's pommel.

 **[] "Yes. I welcome you to the Moon Cell's Grail War, Knight of Londinium."**

 **[] "I will do my best to make sure that we win this war… Mordred, or would you prefer to be called Saber?"**

She flinches at my answer, momentarily touching her helmet to make sure that yes, it was still on. "How do you know my identity!" She asks- no, _demands_ me to give her an answer. I see how she shifted her grip on her sword, her right arm moving from the pommel to the grip as she points at me with her left.

' _How could he possibly have ignored my helmet's power?'_ _Mordred thought to herself as she looked upon her Master._

I rise up from the floor, and answer her…

 **[] "How could I not recognize the famous Knight who managed to inflict a fatal wound onto the legendary King of Knights." I answer with short bow. Just take a few pages out of how Tokiomi handled Gilgamesh, show the right amount of reverence, and praise, and even the most egoistical of Servants wouldn't act out. So what if Twice was watching, the guy had probably already faced Mordred, or seen her, so trying to hide it from him was practically useless.**

 **[] "All in good time Saber. But I'd rather not reveal it here. After all, who knows if someone is watching." While the possibility of any opposing Masters being able to spy on these preliminaries was low, who knows whether or not Twice was watching. And in all honesty, I'd rather keep my information as a secret from the ghost.**

It seems like Mordred accepted my answer, as Clarent's blade remains pointed down at the ground, away from me.

"And if I'm it's any consolation, I'm far more glad that it was you who was summoned instead of your father." I add, a small earnest smile tugging at the corners of my mouth.

 **[] Her Helm of Hidden Infidelity would do well in hiding her identity from other Masters, and in this tournament, the less information your opponents had on your Servant, the less prepared they would be when the tournament came.**

 **[] Not only was her Battle Continuation Ranked B, but her Helm of Hidden Infidelity would serve in limiting the information m-no, our opponents could obtain on her. But, that didn't mean that I should have her be walking about in plain sight.**

Even with her armor, Mordred's posture is more than telling of the smirk on her face, even if it is covered by her helmet. I can almost visualize it.

* * *

 _ **[Servant: Mordred_C:Sbr has been partnered with Master: Alby_Ó_Catháin. Adding Command Seals...]  
**_

* * *

 **[] I winced as a jolt of pain shot through my arm, as if multiple, burning barbs were being driven into it, all at the same time. Fuckfuckfuckfuck, that hurt!**

 **[] I bit my lower lip as the Command Seals formed. I refused to show such weakness in front of my Servant. FUuuUUCK! That stung like hell. Also, fun note, apparently, the Moon Cell didn't use SAO's stupid way of showing damage, as evident by the coppery taste on my lips. I promptly spit out the blood from my mouth, onto the stained glass.**

"Well, that hurt way less than I imagined." I turn to address Mordred. "So, how should I address you? I can't exactly refer to you by your title, as those are just as likely to reveal your identity." I ask my Servant, who puts her hand to her chin, Clarent fading away.

"Hmm… Saber or Red will do Mas-" She pauses as she looks down at my hands. "Master, where are your Command Seals?"  
 **  
[] "Right here" I draw back my right jacket sleeve, revealing my Command Seals.**

 **[] I respond by drawing back my right sleeve, revealing my Command Seals, thinking about how I can use my Command Seal-free hands to my advantage.**

Mordred nods, before looking around us. "Um, Master? How do we get out of here? Should we try fighting our way out" she asks, lifting her sword.

 **[] I scratch my head. "The Moon Cell's probably going to transport us out of here, or something. But probably not before some kind of "grand speech"."**

 **[] "Just give it a moment. The AI's probably going to give some "grandiose speech" before letting us out." I say, a bit antsy. Shouldn't the system have given some kind of explanation on Command Seals the moment I got them, or did the system only make those who knew nothing go through the tutorial.**

 **#I'll have you know, if I had my way, the necessary information would be given once the Master and Servant exit this test arena.#**

Speak of the devil, and his Grand Priest shall appear.

 **[] I turned my head towards the skies, where the voice of the AI!Kirei had come from. "Oh, so now you speak." To be honest, even though I knew that this wasn't the real Kotomine Kirei, I still didn't trust it. The Game had shown that the AI could make changes to the Arenas whenever it "felt bored", so the possibility of this world's Kirei taking over the AI component was quite high. Hell, maybe Kirei had already taken over the AI, but he was content on entertaining himself with watching Masters killing one another.**

 **[] "So, you're supposed the be the Overseer AI. Kinda crappy for a tutorial AI, not even explaining Command Seals when new Masters obtain them." I directed all the snark I could muster at AI!Kirei as I said those words.**

 **#Oh? And here I thought that a Master as skilled as you wouldn't need a "tutorial AI". How foolish of me, allow me to fix that.#**

Wow, I think I understand a small amount of Rin's hate for Kirei's voice now. The guy really knows how to make his very tone feel like it's insulting you and everything you care about.

Wow, I think this is the fastest a digital entity has managed to earn my sheer spite. Well, discounting Cynthia from Awakening. Seriously, did all of Sumia's stupidity go to her? Fuck that numpty of a girl! Anyway, back onto Kirei, as I ignore his speech, which I recognize to be a part of the in-game one he gives to Hakuno/Hakunon. Anyway, I'll ignore his little speech, as it's just the canon stuff I already know.

From what I remember of him, he is supposed to be an AI based on a previous participant, I.E, the original Kirei Kotomine of this world. Obviously with Twice waiting on the road to the Moon Cell's Holy Grail, Kirei, or the winner of his tournament didn't succeed in attaining their wish. So, he got eliminated, and the Grail decided to use him as an overseer for this iteration of the tournament.

That meant that it was quite likely that the other Masters from Fate/Zero were also participants recorded in the Moon Cell's archives. Now, it was also quite likely that due to butterfly effects, some of them didn't exist in this timeline, and this all depended on how recent Kirei's tournament was, but…

 **[] If Kayneth had been a participant, hell, if anyone with a particularly strong or useful Mystic Code or Magecraft had been a participant, then I could try accessing the archives, probably from the library, and try generating them into existence, and despite how much I hoped, those items would generate in either the Arena, where anyone could stumble upon it, or into the store, and god knows how much those costed.**

 **[] If Kiritsugu still existed in this timeline, and his Origin Bullets were in the archives, then I could try accessing the Code Cast version of them, if those even existed. And with those, even the strongest of Magi would be easy to deal with, especially Archer if he appeared in this timeline. And hell, even if Kiritsugu's Origin Bullets didn't exist, I could try finding something that would work. Hell, I'd be satisfied with an Azoth Sword, or Bazett's Fragarach.**

Now, accessing the Moon Cell's archives might've sounded dangerous, but considering how even that moron Gatou had been able to make himself a custom avatar, and how Julius had been able to hack into participant profiles, which were supposed to remain secret, I figure I'd be able to at least piggy-back onto someone's hacking, and access some of the data the Moon Cell had amassed.

"Grr…WOULD GET ON WITH IT, **YOU POOR EXCUSE OF A PRIEST!"** Careful Mordred, your Berserker is showing. Mordred is pointing Clarent towards the skies, her right arm holding the sword meant to be held with both arms up with no sign of it being a burden.

 **#You have quite the mouthy Servant for a Saber Class. It's a small wonder that someone like you entered the same Class as the King of Knights.#** Oh wow, he just had to go there… Oh shit, he pulled at Mordred's trigger.

I turn to look at her helme-nope, she has withdrawn her helmet, and the expression on her face is one of sheer murderous intent.

 **"Clarent Blood Arthur…"** As Mordred uttered those words, I felt pain racing all across my nerves, like someone stabbed 25 red-hot iron bars throughout my body, and then poured gasoline onto them! I-Is this what Kariya felt like whenever the Crest Worms got agitated? No wonder he was going insane as the war drew to a close.

I collapse onto all fours as a red aura of sheer hate, and malice engulfed her sword. I can feel my strength fading away as the red aura around her sword grows.

 **[] I-I need to stop her before she drains all the energy from my body.** _ **-"MORDRED! STOP!"-**_

 **[] Damn you to the lowest pit of hell, Kirei Kotomine, along with all other versions of you!** _ **-"MORDERD! IS THIS HOW A KING SHOULD ACT TO INSULTS FROM A PETTY PRIEST?!"-**_

It seems like Mordred managed to hear me, even in her enraged state, as she lowers her sword and turns towards me, the pain, which I assume to be Prana, or was it, Od? Anyway, magical energy being drained from my Magic Circuits, fades away. Also, how the fuck do I have Magic Circuits- no, that's something to look into later, focus Alby! You have shit to do.

"Saber, that man takes delight in the suffering of others." I hoarsely state, doing my best to get up, only to fall back onto my knee. I look Mordred straight in the eye, trying my best not to fall back down.

"So, are you just a pathetic little girl who lets mere words enrage them to this point." I shakily get back onto my two feet. Now just to hammer in the point. "Or are you the knight who's worthy of succeeding King Arthur, the fucking Once and Future King? Huh! What's it gonna be, MORDRED!?" I shout, jabbing my ginger forward as I point at her, my chest heaving.

Holy shit, doing anime inspirational speeches where you were practically on your last legs was no joke.

 **[] Seriously Mordred, don't make do this again, it's embarrassing, not to mention taxing. Seriously, props to Kamina, and every other anime character who manages to pull off speeches on demand, even on fucking death's door.**

 **[] I seriously fucking hope that I don't have to do this again. At least this time it wasn't in front of a lot of people. Also, whoo boy, that'd be the fatigue setting in. I manage to stop myself from falling, albeit barely.**

Mordred's helmet pieces slid back into place, and her Clarent Blood Arthur deactivates, the last bits of the burning red energy fade away.

 **#Well that was, I believe the current generation calls it, "anticlimactic"?#**

 **[] "YOU SHUT THE FUCK UP!" I shout, pointing at where that condescending bastard priest's voice came from**

 **[] "…" I, I'm honestly done with your shit, Kirei. You give people who enjoy Schadenfreude a bad name, and so, I flip thee twice.**

 **#Well that was rather uncouth, but I suppose if the Servant fits...#**

Oh god no, he's enjoying this. Fuck off, you shitty priest!

 **#But alas, as much as I have enjoyed our little talk, there are other matters that I need to address, so feel free to show yourself and your Servant out.#**

And with those words, a large, double door appeared at the edge of the arena.

 **[] I sighed in relief at the appearance of the door. As soon as I got to my assigned room, I'd look into the fact that I have fucking Magic Circuits. I mean, could that mean that I could make my own Familiar to fight against other Masters?**

 **[] You know what Kirei? You're still a piece of shit, but thanks for the door. But I swear to fucking god, if that turns out to be a prank, I will fucking murder your ass on the final week, just before the match.**

And it seems like Mordred also shared in my desire to leave, as she turned to face me. "Well Master, shall we go?" she asked, and I notice that her tone is, dare I say, less confident than before? The cockiness is still there, but now a bit subdued.

 **[] I nod as I took a few shaky steps, still enough energy in me to avoid kissing the ground. As I make my way towards the door, Mordred right beside me, I address her.**

 _ **-"Mordred, know this, that man is an expert at psychological warfare, and he is the one in charge of this war, so him making that insult was matter of when, not a matter of if. Be glad that it wasn't in a situation where you could have actually attempted to attack him."-**_ **I didn't want to even imagine how the Moon Cell would've reacted to Mordred attacking the Overseer of the war.**

 _ **-"This is a game to that man. If you give in, then he wins."-**_ **I took no shame in quoting TeamFourStar, if it meant that Mordred wouldn't fall for similar insults in the case that her identity became known to my opponent.**

Of course, I knew that simply telling her not to respond to insults, she was too passion-driven to follow orders like that, so the best option was to make it a matter of pride to her.

 **[]** _ **–"Master I-"-**_ **I interrupt Mordred before she can finish.**

 _ **-"Listen to me Mordred, while yes, you over-reacted, the blame doesn't solely rest upon your shoulders."-**_ **40% is on you, while 50% is on Kirei's, and the rest is on me. I should have foreseen the shitty priest making that insult sooner or later. Thankfully, that little episode revealed a few important factors, both about myself and my Servant.**

 _ **-"…Thank you Master."-**_

 _ **-"Don't mention it."-**_ **I earnestly reply to Mordred.**

* * *

As Mordred and I go through the door, we come out of the very same dead end that I had entered through, but now, everything had that blue tint I was familiar from the game, and awaiting us there was.

 **[] "Are you hurt?" Who else but Sakura Matou in a doctor's jacket. MEDI~C!**

 **[] Sakura Matou and Tige-Is that a tiger-striped Shinai?**


	3. Chapter 3: Item, GETTODAZE!

**[] Did that mean that Sakura had only died recently? I guess that means that she was selected as the nurse by random.**

 **[X] Could it be that Sakura and Rin were never siblings in this timeline?**

Regardless, I answer her.

 **[X] "My whole body feels like it's burning from the inside out. So you tell me if I'm hurt." I flinch at the phantom pain from what I presume to be my Magic Circuits.**

 **[] "Well, I did get bitch-smacked across the arena by the effigy, so yeah, pretty hurt." In retrospect, I think the effigy broke one of my ribs, or at least fractured it.  
** **  
**"Then please follow me so that we can treat your injuries before the war begins" she says, turning to walk towards the infirmary, which honestly should logically be right adjacent to the arena's entrance, well, unless you wanted to risk the participants succumbing to poison mere footsteps before reaching the infirmary.

* * *

To my surprise, instead of any traditional methods of treatment, Sakura merely waves her hand, a rectangular screen about two meters tall, and 1.5 meters wide appearing in mid-air.

"Hm…Well, the good news is that you'll be able to take part in the war, and that you only sustained minor injuries, which should heal up in a week or so." She said as she opened up one of the desk drawers, and withdrew a hand-held device, that all in all reminded me of those little handheld things from Digimon 02, if only a bit sleeker and less goofy looking.

"Here, you'll need this as a Master participating in the Holy Grail War." I accept the device as she hands it to me.

 **«Key Item: [Portable Terminal] has been acquired!»  
** [Color=Transparent]«Gamer_V3. booting up…»[/Color] **  
**I ignore the box of text that momentarily popped up. I'd look into it later, and see what kind of features I had available to myself.

"Hm? How is this small plate useful? Is it some kind of weapon?" Mordred spoke up, looming over my shoulder as she looked at the device. Apparently she felt no need to hide herself, least of all in here. Granted, she wasn't completely wrong, as her Noble Phantasm does hide her identity, but still, certain things about her could be discovered even with her helmet on, such as her class, which would help in narrowing down her true identity.

"Ah, no Saber-san. It's more of a utility tool for Masters." Sakura explained. I already knew that it would send a message about whenever one of the keys needed to enter the elimination match, along with other kind of information, but to be honest, I was also interested in what other functions it had.

"You see, in 5 days, the war will begin, and SE. RA. PH will send you a message, with your opponent's name in it." She continued.

Mordred crossed her arms, nodding in understanding. "I see, too bad it's only a name, instead of a picture."

 **[] "Not as useless as you think." After all, there was a list of participants, and even if I couldn't get every bit of info about them, I could at the very least get a picture to match the name.  
** **  
[X] I nod in agreement. While Hakuno/Hakunon might've had the opportunity to meet face-to-face with his/her opponents without any real effort, I wouldn't have the same privilege, which would make tracking down my opponent much harder, unless I managed to get lucky and get people whom I recognized.**

Sakura narrowed her eyes at Mordred's complaint. "Well, the terminal does have other features, like giving Masters an inventory to store items they find in the arena, and a basic access to Code Casting." Huh, so the game mechanics weren't, _well_ , just Game mechanics. Absently, I wondered if us Masters had stats like the servants did.

And since everything here was digital, including our minds, wouldn't that mean that I could download the theoretical knowledge of different magecrafts, and Code Casts? Now, of course, I probably couldn't affect any participants, but profiles about non-contestants, or dead contestants, both from this war and the previous ones.

Now, I had two options before me, I could either ask Sakura, the AI who was assigned by the Moon Cell to act as a medic about whether or not I could download the research and skills of previous masters, and whether or not that was even safe to attempt.

 _BUT_ on the other hand, if it wasn't allowed, I'd immediately get slapped with a punishment.

 **[] Ask her about it. There could be a substantial risk with altering your own data.**

 **[] Don't ask her. Better to not risk getting punished by the Moon Cell before the war even began.**

* * *

 **The only choices that needs to be answered are the ones that don't have a [X].**

* * *

"Well master, what's your plan for the war?" Mordred asked, leaning against the wall as I sit at the desk, turning to address her.

As it turns out, the Fate/Extra game's representation of the private rooms was off the mark, and the Manga's is more accurate, as my room is the size of a classroom, thankfully with two beds, one at each end of the room, with a desk sitting right in front of the windows. _(Note to self: either find a way to make the glass unbreakable, or find some other way to barricade it to prevent a long-range Assassin, or an archer just picking me off before a proper battle could even begin.)_

And it seems like the stuff from our Student-selves carried over to our private rooms, as a pretty high-tech computer sat underneath the desk, three different screens on the table, along with a keyboard and a mouse, all of which I remembered the Student version of me owning.

 **[X] "I'm glad you asked that Mo- Saber." I catch myself before I completely say her name, remembering to respect her wish. "I'd actually like to hear your opinion of it." After all, she actually participated in real combat, and even plotted a coup that did result in the King's death, so she was bound to have at least a few good ideas for how to progress in this tournament. Although, considering how she was more than likely used to a proper war, instead of a Tournament with rules, it was likely that her input wouldn't be as effective.**

 **[] "It's rather simple." I say, leaning back on the chair, intermingling my fingers as I turn to her with a confident smile. "And please, don't refer to this tournament as a war, it's insulting. Real Wars are more chaotic than this one."  
** **  
**"See, our main asset in this war will be anonymity, both mine and yours." I rise up from my chair, a somewhat confident smile on my face. To be honest, without any proper info on my opponent, nor a way for me to currently fight, well, other than me supplying Mordred with energy, our combat strategy was limited to _"Let Mordred fight while I hide and try to survive"_ , and I knew that if any of the more powerful Masters decided to do the smart thing and attack the Master while the Servants kept each other busy, I'd be dead.

"So, you plan to use my passive Noble Phantasm to our advantage?" Mordred might've phrased it like a question, but it was obvious that she was asking for confirmation.

I nod. "The longer we can keep our opponent unaware of your strengths, weakness' and identity, the more time we have to find out theirs." I fold my hands behind my back.

"A solid plan, but what if our opponents _do_ find out about my identity?"

"We'll deal with that once it becomes an issue." I wasn't quite sure how three turns from the game would translate into here, so we were better off not attacking masters before the elimination match. "However, we will employ a multi-layered plan to hiding your identity."

"The first layer will be that you won't be addressed by your Name or any personal titles." We were already taking the steps to this by me asking how she'd prefer to be referred to. Red was generic enough, although dangerous close to her real name, and Saber was a class, and there were many Heroic Spirits who could fall under that class, so referring to her by her Class wasn't a big risk.

"The second; I ask you to stay in your spiritual form while we are in this school." If Mordred stayed hidden, then our opponents would be hard pressed to find any info about her.

"Third; I ask you not to use your Blood Arthur until the elimination match, or if our lives are at stake, and there's no other way out." Granted, the second layer wasn't a fool-proof one, as Mordred would have to stay visible during our excursions into the Arena, but as long as she didn't use her Clarent Blood Arthur, then her Secret of Pedigree would stay active.

She was obviously a Saber class, her weapon gave it away, so her Class skills being visible while in the arena wouldn't be that big of an issue.

"Hm, good enough, for someone who hasn't fought in battle before." Ouch Mordred, your words wound me so.

* * *

 **[The very next day. 4 days until the start of the HGW…]**  
[Color=Transparent]«Gamer_V3. has finished installation…»[/Color] _ **  
**_Trying to make good use of the 4 days I had left before the start of the war, I…

 **[X] Attempted hacking into the Moon Cell's archives in preparation for when the Masters would be announced. If there was an easy spot where I could access the Moon Cell's records, then it would be the library.  
** [Color=Transparent]Oh, hello Kayneth's Profile Data, you won't mind if I "borrow" some skills? Of course you don't, you're dead. [/Color]  
 **[] Approached one of the Masters I knew to be too honorable to stab me in the back to teach me how to fight properly.** [Color=Transparent]Hello, Santa knight.[/Color]


End file.
